Apparatus for forming mitered corners in binding strips attached to fabric



A MIRCOFF' Feb. 4, 1969 APPARATUS FOR FORMING MITERED CORNERS IN BINDING STRIPS ATTACHED TO FABRIC Filed Aug. 7, 1967 Sheet of 2 INVENTOR.

ALEX M 2coFl= j M m! ATTORNEYE:

Feb. 4. 1969 INVENTOR ALEX M RCLOF-F- 3,425,374 .sTRIPs A. MIRCQF F APPARATUS FOR FORMING MITERED CORNERS IN BINDING ATTACHED T0 FABRIC Filed Aug. 7, 1967 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for forming mitered corners in binding strips attached to fabric by a sewing machine including a binding strip guide for guiding a binding strip transversely to the edge of the fabric and everting and guiding the binding strip longitudinally in overlapping relationship along the edge of the fabric. The apparatus includes stitching the binding strip and fabric to approximately the trailing edge of the fabric and holding the nonstitched, everted, folded edge in its normal position by a mitering finger guide, while turning the fabric with the needle out approximately 90 to position another edge of the fabric for stitching, to form a folded-over mitered corner in the binding strip. The mitering finger guide is mounted for longitudinal movement to be moved forwardly carrying the fabric forwardly a predetermined distance to allow the new line of stitching to start inwardly of the leading edge and generally at the fold line in the mitered corner.

As set forth above, this invention is directed to an apparatus for forming mitered corners in binding strips attached to fabric by a sewing machine.

In the textile industry wherein it is desirable to attach a binding strip to the edge of a fabric having corners, such as collars, lapels and cuffs of articles of clothing, etc., the formation of a neat, desirable and acceptable corner has long been a problem in the industry. The better quality and superior goods have desirably contained a mitered corner in the binding strip at the corner of the fabric to which it is attached. However, a suitable apparatus for forming these mitered corners have not been previously available.

conventionally, these mitered corners have been formed by stitching the overlapping binding strip to the corner of the fabric, removing the binding strip and fabric from the sewing machine, cutting the binding strip on a bias so as to remove triangular portions from each side thereof, everting the binding strip, stitching the cut edges on each side together to form a mitered corner, and again placing the fabric and binding strip in the sewing machine to stitch the thus formed mitered corner in overlapping relationship to the corner of the fabric. Manifestly, this was a time consuming and expensive operation which required the additional steps by a skilled operator of cutting the binding strip and stitching the cut edges together to form a mitered corner in the binding strip.

Additionally, various methods and attachments to sewing machines have been proposed for forming purely .folded over mitered corners in the binding strips and elimimating the additional steps discussed above; however, these methods and apparatus, of necessity, have involved the use of a high degree of skill in the manual manipulation of the fabric and binding strip by an operator during the stitching process or the use of complicated and cumbersome apparatus and, therefore, have not been satisfactorily commercialized. Moreover, some of the prior methods and apparatus did not provide a truly mitered corner in the binding strip, but rather produced a foldedover corner therein which did not have a true diagonal fold line in the corner which is characteristic of a truly mitered corner and which provides a truly desirable corner in the fabric.

Therefore, it is the object of this invention to provide a simple and reliable apparatus for forming folded-over mitered corners in binding strips attached to fabric.

By this invention, it has been found that the above object may be accomplished by providing an apparatus which are easily and reliably used by an operator and which do not require a high degree of skill in the use thereof and which will always produce an acceptable, truly mitered corner in the binding strip at the corner of the fabric being stitched.

This invention includes, in combination with a sewing machine having a binding strip guide for guiding a binding strip transversely to the edge of the fabric and everting and guiding the binding strip longitudinally in overlapping relationship along the edge of the fabric to the needle for stitching the overlapped binding strip onto the fabric, stitching the binding strip and the fabric to approximately the trailing edge of the fabric and holding the non-stitched, everted, folded edge in its normal position by mitering finger guide, while turning the fabric with the needle out approximately to position another edge of the fabric for stitching, to form a folded-over mitered corner in the binding strip. The mitering finger guide is characterized by being mounted for longitudinal movement to be moved forwardly carrying the fabric forwardly a predetermined distance to allow the new line of stitching to start inwardly of the leading edge of the fabric and generally at the fold line in the mitered corner for securing the mitered corner in the overlapping folded condition.

Further features of this invention will be understood from a consideration of the following, more detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 with the sewing head of the sewing machine removed;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 2 showing the mitering means of this invention pivoted to an inactive position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view, somewhat schematic, showing a binding strip being stitched to fabric and the binding strip guide leading the binding strip thereto;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view, somewhat similar to FIGURE 4, showing the mitering guide finger in position for forming the mitered corner;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view, somewhat similar to' FIGURE 5, showing the fabric after it is turned at an angle of approximately 90 to the previously stitched edge for positioning another edge of the fabric for stitching and illustrating the formation of the mitered corner in the binding strip; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view, somewhat similar to FIGURE 6, showing the mitering finger guide moved forwardly in its longitudinal path of travel for advancing the fabric and binding strip forwardly a predetermined distance to allow the new line of stitching to start inwardly of the leading edge of the fabric.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a portion of a sewing machine, generally indicated at 10, including a sewing needle 11, a presser foot 12, feed dogs 13, a needle plate 14, and a bed plate 15. All of this sewing machine apparatus is mounted on a work table 16 and the operation thereof is conventional and well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art and will not be elaborated on herein.

The sewing machine further includes a binding strip guide, generally indicated at 20, adapted to guide a binding strip B transversely to the edge of fabric F, which may comprise a single layer or a plurality of layers, in advance of the sewing needle 11 and evert and guide the binding strip B, as clearly shown in FIGURE 4, longitudinally in overlapping relationship along the edge of the fabric F to the sewing needle 11 for stitching thereof. The binding strip guide is of conventional construction and comprises a double wall, U-shaped member mounted on the bed plate 15 of the sewing machine 10 and functions in the above manner in a way well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art and, therefore, will not be elaborated on herein.

The apparatus of this invention, which is utilized in combination with the above-described apparatus, comprises a mitering means, generally indicated at 30. The mitering means comprises a U-shaped guide finger 31 which is open toward the edge of fabric F to be stitched and the legs of which are spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive the fabric F therebetween and allow feeding of the fabric therethrough. The U-shaped guide finger 31 has a forwardly open pointed end 31' which has a cut-away portion therein to allow penetration of the needle into the fabric when the guide finger 31 is in the position shown in FIGURE 7. The forward end 31 is also open on the normally closed side, as indicated at 32 in FIGURE 5, to facilitate pivoting of the guide finger, which will be hereinafter described.

The guide finger 31 is fixedly secured to a slide plate 33 which is in turn movably mounted and carried by a lever arm 34. The slide plate 33 includes a longitudinally extending slot 35 therein which receives a first post 36 secured to the lever arm 34 and extending upwardly through the slot 35 in the plate 33. A similar post 37 is secured to the slide plate 33 and a tension spring 38 is secured at one end to the post 36 and at the other end to the post 37 to bias the slide plate 33 to the position shown in FIGURE 1. A screw 40 is also provided which extends through the slot 35 and the plate 33 and into a threaded bore (not shown) in the lever arm 34.

Accordingly, by the above-described mounting, the slide plate 33 is carried on the lever arm 34 and is adapted for linear movement with respect thereto. To facilitate this movement, an operating knob 41 is secured to the rear end of slide plate 33 to enable a manual movement of the slide plate 33 with respect to the lever arm 34 and against the bias of spring 38.

The lever arm 34 is pivoted at the other end thereof by a screw threaded bearing 44 passing through an aperture in the lever arm 34 and secured in the bed plate 15 of the sewing machine. Thus, as may be seen, the entire mitering means assembly is adapted for arcuate movement from an inactive position, as shown in FIGURE 3, to an active position, as shown in FIGURE 4.

For supporting and stabilizing the lever arm 34 during its arcuate motion, there is provided a carriage member mounted for sliding movement on a track 51 disposed between and carried by securing plates 52 and 53 which are mounted on the work table 16 of the sewing machine. The carriage member 50 includes a post 54 extending upwardly through a slot 55 in the lever arm 34 so that as the lever arm 34 is swung through its arcuate path of motion, the carriage member 50 will slide back and forth along the track 51 and support the lever arm 34.

The mitering means 30 is also provided with a stop means cooperating with the lever arm to limit the path of arcuate motion thereof comprising a post secured to the work table 16 and extending upwardly in the path of arcuate movement of the lever arm 34 so as to limit the rearward motion of the lever arm 34, as shown in FIGURE 3. To limit the forward arcuate movement of the lever arm 34, the plate 53 is so disposed as to be contacted by the carriage member 50, as shown in FIG- URE 2, and thereby limit the forward arcuate movement of the lever arm 34.

The mitering means also includes an adjustable stop means for limiting the linear movement of the slide plate 33, comprising an abutment plate 62 adjustably secured to the lever arm 34 by a screw 63 extending through an aperture 64 in the abutment plate 62 and into the lever arm 34, so that when the slide plate 33 is moved forwardly against the bias of spring 38, the post 37 will contact the abutment plate 62 and stop forward movement thereof. As may be seen, the abutment plate 62 may be adjusted by loosening the screw 63 and moving the abutment plate 62 by means of the slot 64 to the desired position. This adjustment is necessary to accommodate various width binding tapes; for example, a longer path of linear movement is desired for a wider binding tape to properly position the mitered corner for a new line of stitching as will be apparent in the following description.

In forming a mitered corner in the overedge binding strip B stitched to the edge of fabric F, a first edge of the fabric F is fed in a longitudinal path of travel to the sewing needle 11 of the sewing machine 10. The binding strip B is guided and fed transversely to the edge of the fabric to be stitched in advance of the sewing needle, everted, and guided and fed longitudinally in folded, overlapping relationship along the edge of the fabric to sewing needle 11, as may be seen in FIGURE 4. A line of stitching is inserted through the overlapping binding strip B and the fabric F for securing them together and the line of stitching is continued to approximately the trailing edge of the fabric F being stitched, as shown in FIG- URE 5.

Operation of the sewing machine 10 is then stopped with the needle 11 out of the fabric and the binding strip. The non-stitched, longitudinally extending, everted, folded edge of the binding strip emerging from the everting operation in the binding strip guide 20 is held in its normal position, while turning the fabric approximately to position another edge of the fabric in the longitudinal direction for continued stitching, as shown in FIGURE 6., by the guide finger 31 which is disposed in the position shown in FIGURE 5 with the forward end 31' positioned approximately at the rear of the line of stitching being applied and at the inside fold line of the binding strip. This allows the binding strip to fold over and form a mitered corner at the corner of the fabric, as shown in FIGURE 6. The guide finger 31 also aids and guides the binding strip to fold over and form a diagonal fold at the mitered corner.

The fabric and folded-over binding strip are then advanced forwardly by longitudinally moving the mitering guide finger 31 and slide plate 33 forwardly against the bias of spring 38 to move the corner of the fabric forwardly a predetermined distance to position the sewing needle inwardly of the leading edge of the fabric and generally at the fold line in the mitered corner, as shown in FIGURE 7. Operation of the sewing machine is then continued to secure the mitered corner and to again stitch the binding strip along the new edge of the fabric. This operation may be repeated for each corner in the fabric being stitched.

The mitering means 30 may be pivoted from the active position, as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5-7, to the inactive position, as shown in FIGURE 3, following the formation of the mitered corner, or the finger guide 31 may be left in the active position to be utilized as a fabric edge guide in the stitching of the edge of the fabric, as desired.

Thus, it may be seen that a truly mitered corner may be formed in a binding strip being secured to the edge of fabric through the novel apparatus and method of this invention described above. This invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sewing machine adapted to stitch an overedge binding strip along the edge of fabric passing therethrough and including a sewing needle and a binding strip guide means adapted to guide a binding strip transversely to the edge of the fabric in advance of said sewing needle and everter and guide the binding strip longitudinally in overlapping relationship along the edge of the fabric to said sewing needle for stitching thereof; the combination therewith of a mitering means for holding the folded edge of the binding strip emerging from said binding strip guide means in its normal position and for forming a folded-over miteredcorner when the fabric is turned and positioned for continued stitching at an angle of approximately 90 to the previously stitched edge, means mounting said mitering means for longitudinal movement with respect to a line of stitching applied by said sewing needle, means for limiting said longitudinal movement and means for operating said mitering means, so that, when said fabric is turned and positioned for continued stitching and a mitered corner is formed in the binding strip, said mitering means is adapted to be moved forwardly carrying the fabric forwardly a predetermined distance past said sewing needle to allow the new line of stitching to start at a predetermined point inwardly of the leading edge of the fabric and generally at the fold line in the mitered corner.

2. The combination, as set forth in claim 1, in which said mitering means is pivotally mounted for arcuate movement thereof from an active position to an inactive position when use thereof is not desired.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination, as set forth in claim 1, in which said mitering means comprises an elongate generally U-shaped guide finger having a forwardly open pointed end and normally extending along the longitudinal edge of the fabric to be stitched in advance of said sewing needle and adapted to allow passage therethrough of the fabric to be stitched and passage thereover of the everted overlapping binding strip, said forward pointed end of said finger being positioned approximately at the rear of the line of stitching being applied and at the inside fold line of the binding strip so that, when stitching is applied to approximately the trailing edge of the fabric and the fabric is turned and positioned for continued stitching at an angle of approximately to the previously stitched edge, a mitered corner will be formed.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination as set forth in claim 3, in which said mitering means further includes a lever arm pivotally mounted at one end for arcuate movement, a plate carried by said lever arm for arcuate movement therewith and movably mounted on said lever arm for linear movement with respect to said lever arm, and said guide finger being fixedly mounted on said plate for movement therewith so that said lever arm, said plate and said guide finger may move in an arcuate path of travel from an inactive position to an active position and said plate and said guide finger may move in a linear path of travel longitudinally of the edge of the fabric being stitched.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination as set forth in claim 4, in which said limiting means comprises first stop means cooperating with said lever arm to limit the path of arcuate movement thereof, and second adjustable stop means cooperating with said plate to limit the path of linear movement thereof.

6. In a sewing machine, the combination as set forth in claim 5, in which said mitering means includes biasing means cooperating with said plate to bias said plate to the rear of the path of linear movement thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,150,627 8/1915 Rontke 112-138 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

